Inner ear disorders such as hearing loss and vertigo are common conditions that affect health and quality of life. The World Health Organization estimates that 5% of the world's population—360 million people—has disabling hearing loss. Almost 50 million Americans have hearing loss, including 1 in 5 teenagers. 60% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan come home with hearing loss and tinnitus, making hearing complaints, the number one war wound. Tinnitus affects 20% of Americans and hearing loss occurs in 90% of these cases. Hearing loss becomes more prevalent with age and those with even mild hearing loss are twice as likely to develop dementia. As a result, hearing loss is a common source of morbidity which deleteriously affects the ability to communicate. At present, audiometric testing is used for the diagnosis of hearing loss. However, early detection—i.e., before hearing loss becomes measurable by audiometric assessment or disabling—has the potential to prevent progression and substantially reduce a major burden on the society.
There are several inner ear disorders that result in vertigo. For example, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) can occur throughout the lifespan, from childhood into old age. It is believed to be the most common cause of dizziness. The one-year prevalence of individuals with BPPV attacks (new-onset and recurrent) rises steeply with age: from 0.5% in 18 to 39 year olds, to 3.4% in individuals over 60 years of age and the cumulative (lifetime) incidence of BPPV reaches almost 10% by the age of 80. Women are two times more likely to suffer from BPPV. Patients with BPPV are more likely to have depression, reduced activities of daily living scores and sustained a fall. Unfortunately, BPPV has a low recognition rate in the primary care setting and emergency rooms where patients with this disorder initially present. In consecutive examinations of 100 older patients in an urban clinic, 9% were found to have undiagnosed BPPV.
What is needed are compositions and methods suitable for early detection and diagnosis of inner ear disorders such as hearing loss and BPPV.